Stranded
by The Watch Stander
Summary: Trip & T'Pol, another mission gone wrong. Archer and crew have a limited time to find and rescue them. Reposted  Action, HC, Friendship and some humor.


Stranded

By The Watch Stander

Enterprise is owned by Paramount, no infringement or profit made or intended.

This is a previously posted story that I am reposting.

As I sat here roasting in Florida in the 90 degree temperatures this story came to mind.

What If...

So read on and I hope you like it. It's a little adventure as well as friendship. Thought it would break up all the intense writing that's been going on about our favorite crew.

As always kind words are always appreciated and welcomed. Thank you, Enjoy!

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T'Pol continued to watch the readouts fluctuate across the screen on her science monitor. The anomalies kept reappearing and disappearing just as before when Ensign Mayweather and Commander Tucker had taken the shuttle out to the sphere to get readings for her. Those readings were lost when the religious Triannons took over Enterprise and deleted much of the information she had acquired in the past month about the spheres and their locations. She tried to salvage as much of her information as possible, but unfortunately most of it was gone. The files would need to be replaced.

Everyone was working quietly at their positions on the bridge, no one said much as each was attuned to their job of getting whatever information they could salvage from their own backups. It was a long and tedious process, almost like starting over.

T'Pol wanted to know why the sphere kept up its level of electrical discharge, thus causing anomalies in the space around the Expanse. It was a vital piece of information that would help with her theory of why these anomalies were so destructive to ships in the immediate area near the spheres. She continued to scan for more information. Finally, unable to glean any more information from the scans, she got up and went to the Captain's ready room door.

Captain Archer now secluded himself in his ready room away from the crew for he felt responsible for what had happened to them and the deaths of two of his crew as well. None of the crew blamed him, for they blamed the Expanse and the Xindi. It was a road taken forced upon them by circumstances beyond anyone's control. It had been necessary to go down this path in order to save earth, so they had followed Archer willingly. Everyone on Enterprise wished that the mission would soon be over, but they knew that it was not likely to happen.

Archer was sitting at his desk when he heard the chime and called out for her to enter. He looked up from his desk expectantly as T'Pol entered, his eyes were rimmed with dark circles and he looked unshaven.

"T'Pol?"

"Captain, I'd like permission to take a shuttle through the cloaking barrier to scan the sphere we are near. As you are aware my database was deleted and all the scans that Commander Tucker brought me are gone. It would only take a few hours and would help in completing my theory." She waited for his decision knowing how badly they needed this information.

Archer gave it some thought, well aware of the project she was working on. If they could find out how the spheres caused the anomalies, they might be able to come up with a way to protect Enterprise from them and avoid a lot of unnecessary damage as well as injuries. Since they couldn't use the Trillium D they needed to find someway of protecting Enterprise.

"All right, but you'll have to take Trip as pilot since Mayweather is on his rest period. They're the only two who know how to get through the cloaking field around the sphere."

She nodded and turned to leave.

"Be careful out there. I can't afford to lose either of you." Archer added with a slight smile on his face.

The smile was something that she hadn't seen him do in a long time and she realized she missed that. His added concern for their safety was also a welcome surprise.

Not knowing what to say back, she simply said, "Understood," and left.

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Trip was just finishing the preflight of the shuttle when T'Pol arrived at the shuttle bay. He had been surprised that the Captain had agreed to send them on this mission together.

Actually, he hadn't seen the Captain or spoken to him since the incident with the Triannons. Two of the crew had been killed and he knew Archer was taking it hard, blaming himself.

Trip had wanted to resist the Triannons, but Archer had strong-armed him aside and ordered him to comply. Trip didn't know what to think about Archer's attitude so he agreed to follow orders. It was still a sore spot and he hadn't forgiven Archer.

_There might have been something I could have done to prevent the Triannons from taking over the ship._

Anyway, it was over and once more they had escaped, but not without cost. Two lives were a high price to pay.

"Commander, whenever you're ready."

Trip smiled as he watched her walk down the steps to the shuttle. She was one of the most complex women he'd ever met. It had taken a long time to get use to talking to her without being on his guard. Over time it had become a game, always teasing and disarming her with words that had double meanings, but even that had changed since coming into the Expanse. Here they had found common ground and since she had taken the time to help him with his insomnia had possibly even become friends. Their common thread was this mission with its complexities as well as the effects of the Expanse on those around them.

The captain had become one of their main subjects of conversation, for they both feared for his mental health. Trip more so, for he knew Archer well, or so he thought. Lately though the captain had become obsessed with the Mission and seemed to isolate himself from his officers and friends. Trip missed meeting with him after shift to watch water polo or just to socialize and talk, but he also blamed himself, for he had at first been obsessed with revenge and probably wasn't very good company. Archer needed someone who was level headed not a hot head who was full of anger and hatred.

Maybe things would work out after they found the Xindi weapon and destroyed it. Until that happened he doubted they would be spending any time together, never mind socializing.

In the meantime, Trip found himself enjoying his sessions with T'Pol and came to realize that she was probably one of the most attractive women he'd ever met.

Something about her fascinated him and he often found himself staring at her beautiful features, seeing things there that he'd never noticed before. However, there was also something that held him back from telling her this; he couldn't bear it if she didn't feel the same. Therefore, he continued to keep the conversations simple and business like.

"I'm ready T'Pol. We should be able to get there and back in a little less than three hours."

"The scans won't take that long to acquire, so we can count on less than four hours in total." She added pleasantly.

The truth was that she was looking forward to spending some time in the shuttle with the Commander for they had never been on a mission alone since entering the Expanse. It would actually give them time to talk.

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Trip launched the shuttle and headed toward the Sphere that was an hour's ride. They couldn't bring Enterprise any nearer for fear of the anomalies and the damage they would cause. Trip had found a way of avoiding the anomalies with the smaller craft so that they didn't sustain any damage. The timing had to be just right. The other shuttle was lined with Trillium D and would have protected them from the anomalies, but T'Pol was adversely affected by it so they couldn't use that shuttle. Trip didn't mind though, he was a good pilot and could fly through anything.

As they made their way toward the cloaking barrier, T'Pol was busily typing away on her computer at the copilot position. The silence was deafening as far as Trip was concerned.

"So, what's the scuttlebutt from the bridge?" Trip tried to make small talk as he flew the shuttle.

T'Pol looked up at him quizzically, "What?"

Trip realized he was using unfamiliar words again, "You know…gossip?"

T'Pol's eyebrows rose, "I don't participate in idle gossip, Commander. "

Trip shook his head, feeling reprimanded.

" However I do listen," she added as her way of taking out the sting of her previous remark.

Trip started to smile, "And….", he prompted.

T'Pol thought for a moment about what she should allow herself to divulge and not be considered a gossip.

"Captain Archer is still blaming himself for the deaths of the two crewmen we lost. He's been keeping to himself in his ready room and away from the crew for some time now. I fear the Expanse is starting to take its toll on him for he looks tired and depressed."

Trip regretted asking her for the information for he already knew Archer was upset about the deaths of the crewmen, but he hadn't considered that it would go this far. Cutting himself off from the crew as well was extreme behavior, especially for the captain. Knowing this made Trip feel guilty for in truth he too had been avoiding Archer, not wanting to talk to him since the incident with the Triannons.

_Maybe its time for me to initiate a friendly visit and try and put things back in perspective for both of us, before the Expanse claims our friendship as its next casualty._

_I'll give it a try when I get back. After all, what's the worst that could happen, he could just say no!_

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On Enterprise Archer was still in his ready room staring out the viewport at the space around them. He now realized how much he hated the Expanse and all it contained for somewhere out there was a race of people bent on destroying his world and all that it contained. They had already killed seven million people and would not stop till Earth was destroyed and billions more died.

Sometimes this all seemed unreal, but then it came back into perspective and he had to acknowledge that it was indeed true. 'The weight of the world' he had told Trip the last time they had gotten together before entering the Expanse. It truly was, and he felt it more and more each day for now everything depended on him and this mission being successful.

If they failed, everyone on Earth would pay with their lives.

He thought about all that his crew had been through in the last few months. Anomalies, pirates, invaders, and also the loss of a total of three crew members, all of whom were casualties of war. They almost lost one more crewman when Trip had fallen off the warp core and been critically injured not expected to survive. Jon had taken drastic measures and did something that was morally wrong, allowing Phlox to create a clone to save Trip. It still haunted him for the memory of that clone sacrificing himself to save Trip was still a fresh wound that never seemed to heal eating away at his insides.

One more piece of Jon's soul was lost with that death and he wondered when it would end, but he knew that he couldn't make it through this mission without Trip.

So he had traded that part of his soul for Trip's life and felt that it was well used.

Trip was the last piece left of the normal life that he had before this mission and he wasn't about to let the Expanse claim him as well. It wasn't going to take his last family member and friend. He wouldn't let it.

The Ossaarian pirate had warned him ' Mercy won't serve you well in the Expanse', and in truth it hadn't. If they hadn't shown mercy to the Triannons, they would still have their two crewmen alive. It was his fault for allowing concern to cloud his judgment and he knew that it would never be repeated.

_No good deed goes unpunished was indeed true, especially out here_.

_Next time they would leave and let someone else send aid._

Jon told the pirate he would become a person that could kill and he meant it.

Somehow he knew he could do it, for in truth, there was no other choice.

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T'Pol noticed the anomaly starting to appear on the starboard side of their shuttle.

"Commander, change course 3.2 to port."

Trip quickly corrected their heading and avoided the anomaly wave.

"Sure is nice having a copilot! That would have been a rough ride there." Trip exclaimed in relief.

He was still smiling and about to make another smart remark when suddenly he noticed the area ahead as they entered a debris field, where pieces of what seemed like ship fragments floated.

"What the...," he didn't finish the sentence as several pieces came in contact with their ship's hull and bounced off.

"Hold on. I'm changing our heading again!"

He sent the ship another ten degrees to starboard this time and managed to miss a very large chunk of what looked like a ship's wing.

T'Pol checked her readings again, "Commander we're about to enter the cloaking field."

Trip took a deep breath, "Hang on!" as the small ship went through the field. They came out a few seconds later on the other side and he released his breath.

"Take your readings T'Pol, cause we don't want to stay here too long. Don't know what's waiting for us around here." His face was covered with perspiration.

She nodded, now intent on getting the readings she needed to offer him anything more.

Trip continued to scan the area around them using the scanners to pick up any signs of ships approaching. Finding the debris didn't give him a very warm feeling about being in this area.

T'Pol finally spoke, "I'm getting very highly charged readings from the sphere, similar to what you gave me before. This means that it's a constant source of energy that creates the anomalies we're experiencing on Enterprise. Perhaps this is something we can monitor and maybe predict when an anomaly will occur."

"That sure would be a big help," Trip commented as he glanced in her direction. "Be nice to know when to grab hold of something, especially if you're on a ladder in a Jeffries tube!"

"I'm almost done, perhaps you'd better plan our exit path through the cloaking field so we can get back to Enterprise," she added not unkindly.

Trip smiled at the gentle reminder, all too happy to oblige and get them back safely to Enterprise. He plotted the course and sent the small ship back through the field. It was a rough ride as several waves of space fluctuations hit them. When they reemerged on the other side of the cloaking field, they suddenly found themselves in the middle of an asteroid field.

"What the Hell!" Trip fought the ship's controls now trying to dodge large chunks of rock that sped by them, all seeming to be aimed at them.

_Now I know why there are pieces of space ships out here. _

He was a good pilot, but not good enough. A large chunk of asteroid hit the side of the shuttle and sent them ricocheting into the path of a larger asteroid.

"Grab onto something!" he shouted as he fought the controls at the same time trying to avoid another large asteroid directly in their path.

His luck finally ran out and they side swiped a larger asteroid causing their systems to all fail at once.

Trip knew they wouldn't have a chance of surviving the asteroid field without power, so he coasted towards a large asteroid that seemed to have a flat area on which to set the ship down.

"I'm going to land her! It's going to be rough. Brace yourself!"

The flight down only took seconds, but those seconds seemed like hours to Trip as he tied to keep the ship steady, so as not to crash land on the asteroid before them. Flying without power was a new experience and one he didn't enjoy.

They came down hard, slid across the ice encrusted asteroid and ended up bouncing off a large outcropping which sent them tumbling end over end. Trip heard T'Pol cry out then he was forcefully ejected from his seat. Something struck him hard and blackness claimed him.

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Trip became aware of a buzzing noise that seemed to be ringing in his ears. Slowly he grappled with consciousness and finally forced his eyes open. There was an eerie atmosphere in the shuttle caused by the emergency lighting and smoke from burning circuitry.

As he tried to sit up, he once more became aware of all the aches and pains associated with being thrown about a tumbling shuttle.

After waiting a couple of minutes and making sure nothing was broken, he came to the conclusion that he had miraculously come thru this with only bruises and a possible concussion. Suddenly remembering that he wasn't alone, he looked around for T'Pol.

She lay face down in the rear of the shuttle. Panicking, he managed to stagger to his feet and headed back to check her. She was unconscious and he discovered she had a broken leg as well as several large bruises on her side and head, but she was alive.

Trip found a blanket in one of the unopened cabinets and covered her with it, afraid to move her just yet in fear of dropping her and adding to her injuries.

He would set the broken leg as soon as he checked their status. That only took a few minutes for they were dead in the water, so to speak.

No engines, electrical or any power other than emergency lighting and air. Everything else had suffered from the blow of the asteroid they had bounced off. It was a start and Trip figured he could try and repair the damage as soon as he made T'Pol comfortable. The EV suits were also included on the casualty list as the closet they were in had an electrical fire that burnt thru the material quickly and left them a pile of ashes. He used a fire extinguished on the smouldering remains.

They would have enough air to last them, but that wouldn't be their main problem. Without a beacon there might not be a rescue, and without extra emergency power there wouldn't be any heat. Already he was noticing the temperature in the cabin was slowly growing chilly. After checking through the cabinets and the contents on the floor of the shuttle, he managed to find a first aid kit. Finally he went back to where T'Pol lay. The break was clean, as near as he could tell, so immobilizing it was the most important thing to do. He wasn't a doctor, but he did remember basic first aid from survival school.

There was also the realization that without heat it was going to get colder in the shuttle. Malcolm and he had the dubious honor of spending a few days together in another shuttle where they had turned the heat down, but at least there they had power, just no communications. In the end they were saved, but both had a bad case of hypothermia.

After that incident Trip had made sure each shuttle was equipped with thermal blankets. Each blanket was powered by a single energy cell that made it into an electric blanket. It was lucky they had them for neither he nor T'Pol had worn very heavy clothing just their normal jumpsuit.

_God, I hate being cold!_

It was the worst feeling. Especially for someone who came from Florida and was use to warm days and comfortable nights. None of that freezing cold weather for him!

_No Siree! The only skiing he ever did was water skiing._

He crouched down next to T'Pol and gently arranged her leg while checking the alignment with the medical tricorder from the kit. Once he had it in place, he used a spanner as a splint and wrapped the leg and its brace together with several of the bandages.

Gently picking her up he placed her on one of the benches in the rear of the shuttle, careful not to jar her leg. Once she was settled, he wrapped a thermal blanket around her and turned on the control to medium high. He gave her a shot for the pain.

While he was cleaning a cut on her forehead, she started to stir. Her beautiful brown eyes opened and seemed to try and focus on him.

"Commander? What's happened?" she murmured.

Trip smiled at her groggy question and tried to sound reassuring, "We made a very bad landing. I'm afraid we've lost all power except emergency air and lights. I think I can fix communications, but with the anomalies around here I doubt Enterprise will hear us. I need to get the emergency beacon working."

He added softly, "You have a broken leg so you need to lie still."

She seemed to digest this slowly, due to her injuries.

Trip was struck by how very vulnerable she looked and found himself wishing he could reach out and gather her into his arms to reassure her.

He resisted the urge however, and tried to make light of their situation.

"Guess I'd better put more time into practicing touch-and-go on asteroids," he quipped.

"I guess so," she said softly then closed her eyes once again.

Trip smiled as he gently tucked the blanket under her chin, then left to find the tool kit and start the necessary repairs. He chose to fix communications first as it wasn't as badly damaged and they just might get lucky and reach Enterprise.

All the time he worked he noticed the air surrounding him was getting colder.

_Enterprise had better look for us soon, or we'll be frozen stiff._

It seemed to take hours to just make small adjustments. One hand was practically useless now for his fingers kept stiffening. It was also difficult working under the console with little light and the cold air chilling him to the bone. The cold metal floor beneath him seemed to be sucking all the heat from his body through the thin jumpsuit he wore leaving him cold and stiff.

_I wonder when Captain Archer will miss us and start a search. It's been more than six hours that we've been gone. That makes us two hours overdue!_

His body was starting to shake from the cold and he could feel the aches starting. It was time for a break and he also needed to check on T'Pol.

Carefully he slid out from under the console trying not to hit his head as he did so. When he went to stand up, his legs could barely straighten they were so stiff. He knew it was from the cold for having had hypothermia once before he recognized the signs.

Feeling like a hundred-year-old man he slowly made his way over to T'Pol and finding her still seemingly asleep, sat on the end of the bench near where her head rested. This way he could absorb some of the warmth from her as well as her blanket. Earlier he had discovered the other blanket's energy cell had been damaged during the landing, so he had placed it over her as well having no better use for it.

Leaning back against the wall he shut his eyes.

_I'll rest a few minutes, then I'll get back to work_.

It only seemed like a few moments later when something was shaking his arm and he heard someone calling him.

"Commander, you must wake up!"

Through half open eyes he groggily tried to figure out what was going on, then it all came back.

_We're stranded on an asteroid._

Opening his eyes further he found T'Pol looking up at him and pulling on his sleeve.

Wearily_ he_ tried to straighten up and rubbed his eyes, "Sorry, must have dozed off for a moment_"_

"Did youfinish the communications console_?" _She askedhopefully

Then he felt guilty knowing that he hadn't, "No, I 'll get back on it."

When he started to get up she suddenly reached out and grabbed his hand.

"Wait! ... You're freezing, rest for a minute and warm up."

The hand she had grabbed felt like ice so she started to rub it between her hands to restore what little warmth she could.

"Your hands are so cold you won't be able to hold onto anything, never mind repair it," she added knowing how stubborn he could be.

He appreciated her concern, but knew if he didn't go it was only postponing the inevitable and it certainly wasn't getting any warmer inside the shuttle. They needed to call or signal for help.

"If I don't get back to work, the only thing Enterprise will find is two popsicles!" he said with a slight smile, trying to hide just how miserable he really felt.

Her eyebrows rose quizzically, "Popsicles?"

It brought a smile to his face when he realized she hadn't a clue what he was referring to.

"It's a frozen ice concoction on two sticks made from water and sugar. We ate them as kids whenever it was hot." He looked wishful " They're right up there on my favorite's list along with cherry snowcones!"

Another smile crossed his face when he remembered being on the desert with Jon and telling him about the cherry snowcones. When he finally looked down at T'Pol he noticed another puzzled look cross her face.

"Snow cones?" she asked.

Shaking his head he just said, "Never mind."

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Jon rubbed his sore eyes as he looked away from the desk monitor screen. He had been staring at it ever since he had sat down at the desk. Just then the door chime sounded.

"Come in," he waited to see who it was.

A very worried Lt. Reed entered, "Sir, Commander Tucker and Sub-commander T'Pol haven't returned yet."

Jon was surprised the time had passed so quickly, for it seemed like they had just left.

"How long has it been?"

Reed took a deep breath, unable to quell his fear for their safety, "They're four hours overdue. Hoshi can't raise them and they're nowhere on my sensors. I'm afraid something has happened to them."

This wasn't what Jon wanted to hear, "Find their last readings and contact point, then get a shuttle prepped and I'll be there shortly. We'll go after them."

Reed looked hopeful and relieved that Archer was taking him as well. "Yes, Sir."

He quickly left.

Archer still sat at his desk, for now one of his biggest fears seemed to be coming true, losing one or more of his senior officers to an accident or mishap. He needed both of them to fulfill this mission, so it would be up to him and Reed to bring them back if they could.

He didn't want to think how it would affect him if they were both gone. Losing T'Pol, their science officer, would be bad enough, but losing Trip would break his heart. Even though the two of them hadn't been very close lately, Trip was still what he considered family and his best friend.

Trying to put aside his worry he quickly formulated a search pattern to use and left for the shuttle bay.

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Trip had managed to jury rig the comm unit so they could receive incoming hails, but the wiring for the outgoing was fried. His hands were numb and his head ached from the cold. There was no way he could continue in the frosty air without warming up. Every bone in his body protested and he needed to move about or risk getting hypothermia again.

_Where's Enterprise. God, haven't they missed us yet._

He knew he was being unfair, but freezing to death would be their fate if no one came. After several attempts to get on his feet he finally managed and made his way to where T'Pol lay in the back.

Her eyes opened when she heard him approach and she looked up at him. She was shocked at how cold he looked, his lips seemed to be blue.

"Commander, you must get warm!"

"You won't get an argument from me on that. "

She opened up the blankets and signaled for him to lie down beside her.

When he hesitated, she insisted, " This is no time for morality, Commander for if you don't get warm you'll become a popsicle!"

Trip was almost amused by the remark, but was too cold to wise crack.

He lay down slowly and she wrapped her arms around him from behind for they had to lie on their sides to both fit on the bench. He started to shake from the cold, but T'Pol only pulled him closer sharing her body heat.

At any other time he would make a smart remark, but not now, he was far too cold and too grateful for the warmth that she provided. Her closeness didn't even effect him as it might have under any other circumstances. Even as cold as he was he had to find the situation amusing. How he dreamt about doing just this with her and now that he was in this position he was too darned cold.

_Besides, she was only doing this to help him stay alive, and for no other reason. _

The two of them lay there snuggled together each trying to stay warm.

Trip wasn't sure when he finally got warm enough to stop shaking, but he could feel T'Pol's warm breath on his neck and knew he had to get back to work fixing the beacon.

T'Pol felt him start to move and pulled him closer, realizing that he was trying to save them, but afraid to let him go knowing that he would once more be subjected to the bitter cold around them.

It was a strange feeling worrying about him and it spoke volumes of how far their relationship had developed. She was concerned for him and she didn't know why and quickly attributed it to the fact that she was concerned for all of them, Captain Archer as well. They needed her and it was her main reason for coming with them into the Expanse.

Of all of the crew on Enterprise this human she had her arms wrapped around had surprised her the most. His teasing had always made her feel that he took nothing seriously. However, when his sister had been killed, T'Pol began to see a side of him that lay hidden well below the surface. There was a kindness there as well as caring, he would never say anything to anyone to hurt them, but instead tried to tease instead. It was something she had found hard to get use to. Vulcans always said exactly what they thought, but the humans found other ways of saying what they thought often times with emotion as an attachment.

Commander Tucker was very outspoken and his temper volatile making her feel that he was undisciplined. However, his loyalty to the Captain and his crew mates was undeniable, even going out of his way to try and make her feel welcome. There was no denying that he was a far more complex human than she had thought when she first met him.

Trip felt her arms tighten around him and almost smiled.

W_hat signal was she sending?_

There was no time to worry about it though, for he had to get busy on the beacon.

"T'Pol, as much as I'd like to stay here with you and keep warm, I have to fix that beacon. So, you'd better let me get up."

Realizing that she was indeed holding him back, she quickly released her hold allowing him to sit up.

"Try to hurry, Commander, we don't have much time. It feels like it's dropped another 10 degrees in here."

"You're telling me! My nose is frozen!" He blew out a breath and wasn't surprised to see it leave a vapor trail in the air.

Quickly he got up and smiling tucked the blankets around her again. "Just stay warm, I'll try and hurry."

She nodded and snuggled back down under the blankets trying to be careful and not jar her leg. It was stiff, but there was no pain due to the local painkiller the Commander had administered to her.

She lay there wondering if Enterprise would ever find them.

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Reed and Archer had taken Mayweather with them to try and find the missing shuttle. Travis and Trip were the only two that had piloted the shuttle and managed to avoid the anomalies around the spheres and get through the clocking barrier.

Archer was concerned, for the missing shuttle was now four hours overdue and it would take them another hour to get to the cloaking barrier near the sphere. There had been no signal from the other shuttle at all. Nothing, leaving him to believe that whatever had happened was sudden and maybe fatal. It wasn't a good sign.

Reed was sitting next to Archer; "I still have nothing on the forward scanners, sir. Their trail shows them still traveling in this direction four hours ago."

A sudden exclamation from Travis captured their attention, "Captain, there's something ahead coming up fast!"

All eyes went to the forward screen.

Reed could only exclaim, "Bloody hell! It's a debris field!"

Pieces of ships seemed to be floating everywhere. A sudden silence descended over the shuttle as the cold fear that the pieces might be all that was left of their shuttle ran thru each of them.

Archer was the first to recover, "Scan for the shuttle's signature!"

Reed did so, holding his breath. Finally he was able to inform them, "No sign of any pieces belonging to our shuttle, but the warp trail shows they were here!"

Everyone felt relieved, but it still meant that the shuttle might have come to some mishap since their warp signature was present.

"They must have passed through here, hopefully they didn't run into anything," Archer knew that something had happened, but it still wasn't clear as to what that was.

"Let's follow their warp trail and see where it leads. "

Travis nodded and sent the shuttle along the previous shuttle's path. "Hold on, we're about to go through the cloaking field."

Trip was once more lying on the cold floor beneath the console trying to repair the unit that powered the beacon. It was slow going since his fingers had long ago lost any feeling in them. His body was numb as well and he found his attention drifting.

_Just wish I was back where it was warm, even that dessert planet Jon and I crossed would be welcome right now. _

That seemed so long ago and remembering the Captain doing everything possible to save him from dying brought back the pain of what their mission had caused. Trip wanted to go back to that time when everything was an adventure and people weren't always out to kill you.

He couldn't take deep breaths anymore for the cold air made his lungs ache so he settled for short ones, but doing it made him light headed.

_Just a few more wires and it should be ok._

He willed his fingers to hold the tool and wrap the wires together. One kept coming loose and he tried to rewrap it.

It was so frustrating; nothing seemed to be working now. The silence all around him was disconcerting as well, for it was beginning to remind him of a tomb, theirs.

Thinking this made him even more determined and he finally made the connection with the wires. It had taken most of his energy to finish, so he lay there a moment trying to regain what little he had left. The switch on the forward control panel would need to be thrown and hopefully it would work.

Feeling like a frozen stick he somehow managed to finally get up. When he looked over at T'Pol, she was either asleep or unconscious he couldn't tell, but right now he needed to throw the switch so he concentrated on getting to the front of the shuttle where the controls were. Once there he pushed the button and when the beacon started to blink he wanted to shout with joy. Instead, his legs finally gave way and he slowly sank to the floor exhausted, slumped in-between the pilot seat and the control board.

The coldness of space closed around him calling him to sleep as it wrapped its soft arms around him, encasing him in a cocoon of velvety softness.

As his eyes slowly started to close he thought he heard someone calling him, but it all faded as he drifted off lured by the soft promise of endless sleep.

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"Shuttle pod one to Commander Tucker, please respond!" Reed tried once more to call the shuttle, but didn't get a response. He looked frustrated, as he clicked off the comm. "Nothing, Sir."

Archer knew how he felt, they were near the sphere but there was no sign of the other shuttle. The warp signature had now dissipated so there was no longer a trail for them to follow.

Travis sighed then did another sweep around the area, a sudden blip lit up on his forward scanner. "Sir! I think I've got something!"

Archer leaned forward and saw the blip on his scanner as well. "What is it?"

"It's the shuttle's emergency beacon!" Travis replied happily. "It's just outside this cloaking field.

Reed smiled and muttered, "Thank God!"

Archer agreed, "Let's go take a look."

Travis piloted them through the field once more and they suddenly found themselves in the midst of an Asteroid field as they exited the barrier.

Travis was quick however and managed to avoid being hit as he flew out of the field, finally releasing his breath when they made it to the other side safely.

Reed did as well, "That was bloody damn close!"

Archer leaned forward and patted Travis on the shoulder. "Good work, Travis. Any sign of the beacon? "

Travis checked his readings again, "Yes sir, but it's right in the middle of that asteroid field."

This wasn't good news and not what Archer wanted to hear.

"They may have been hit by one of these asteroids. Let's hope they're still in one piece. Take us back in," Archer added, afraid that they might indeed be too late to save them.

Travis took a deep breath, dreading having to fly back into the asteroid field. However, he turned the shuttle around and once more his skills as a helmsman were tested by asteroids that all seemed to be aimed directly at them. It reminded him of a computer game he played as a child, only the ship in the game was stationary and only spun around firing. At least with the shuttle they had the capability of dodging the asteroids.

He held his breath...and prayed..

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They found the other shuttle crashed on the surface of a large asteroid still upright but with a lot of outside damage. After Travis managed to dock with it, they were able to enter the shuttle thru the air lock.

The first thing that Archer noticed was the cold atmosphere in the shuttle and then he saw a blanket covered body on the back bench. The top of T'Pol's head was barely exposed. Quickly he made his way to her and was relieved when he found that she was still breathing, just cold. He quickly gathered her into his arms and gently handed her up to Travis thru the airlock.

A sudden exclamation from Reed near the front of the shuttle caught Archer's attention.

"Commander!"

Before the Lt. lay commander Tucker. He looked like he was asleep with his head resting against the consol, but his lips were white and there was frost on his hair as well as his eyelashes. Malcolm feared the worst. He used his medical tricorder, but Trip's life signs barely registered. They would have to hurry if they wanted to save him. Reed knew how badly the cold affected the Floridian from the time they had spent on the shuttle pod. Trip had barely been able to move and this time it must have been torture with the temperature so cold in here.

Archer quickly came forward and bent down to check Trip. The commanders's face was ice cold. Archer's heart sank, but he nodded to Malcolm and together they were able to lift Trip's frozen body up to Travis.

Once they had the two inside the other shuttle, Archer ordered Travis to head back to Enterprise immediately. They would return for the shuttle later.

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T'Pol became aware of her surroundings slowly as her eyelids tried to open. She wasn't sure at first where she was, however the familiar chirping of Phlox's menagerie brought her back to reality.

She also recalled hearing the worried voices of Lt Reed and Captain Archer in the background. It took her a few moments then she vaguely remembered being on the shuttle with them. They were discussing Commander Tucker's condition and trying to restore his circulation, by rubbing his arms and legs. She hadn't been able to stay awake to see if they succeeded.

Something in her stirred, _what if he hadn't survived?_

She turned her head and saw another bed across the room occupied by what must have been the Commander. He wasn't moving so she assumed he was asleep or medicated, but alive none the less. It was easier taking the next breath.

When she moved again, her leg was stiff, and lifting the cover she could see the cast the Doctor had placed on it. Lying back against the pillows once more she thought about the human across from her.

What was it about him that caused her to worry so much? She decided it had to be that they were spending so much time together. Something Vulcan's never did unless forced to by circumstances. This had been out of necessity for the Commander had been dealt a heart breaking blow that he seemed unable to recover from, his sister had been killed in the attack.

Even she couldn't standby and do nothing to help him. Watching him self destruct was not an option she told herself once again. Captain Archer should have helped the Commander since they were such close friends, but he hadn't. He had become obsessed with finding the Xindi and seemed to ignore the Commander's pain.

In the end she had helped and found herself being drawn into a friendship with the Commander that she really hadn't anticipated. There was so much more to him than she had first surmised. His laughing blue eyes always seemed to twinkle when he was about to tease her, so she could always prepare for a retort when she noticed this.

All the time she had been lying here thinking ,Phlox had been talking to his pets and giving them their daily rations.

Lt Reed entered the sickbay door and Phlox stopped to chat with him. She listened to their conversation knowing what it was about.

"How's he doing, Doctor?" Reed asked Phlox concerned.

Phlox smiled as he looked up at Reed and then over at the Commander lying on the bio bed.

"He's still unconscious, but he should be coming around in a few hours. I've managed to stabilize his temperature." Phlox gave Reed one of his widest grins. "He will be fine, Lt. Don't worry."

Reed looked relieved. "That's good, he had us all worried for a while there. The Captain and I couldn't seem to get his heart rate up on the shuttle. No matter what we tried. "

Phlox squeezed the Lt's arm, "No matter, you did what you could and it seemed to help since the Commander is still with us."

Reed smiled, glad that his friend was getting better. " I'll tell the others, shall I, then pop back a little later for a visit if he's awake."

Phlox nodded and then Reed left.

T'Pol had unashamedly eavesdropped knowing that she too wanted to know how the Commander was. Hearing what was said and knowing he was alright, she closed her eyes once more and drifted of to sleep.

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A day later T'Pol found herself heading for the galley. She had been released the day before from sickbay and after looking at the Commander who had still been asleep, she left for her quarters.

Captain Archer had called her this morning and told her that he was glad she was up and feeling better. He also told her Commander Tucker was awake so she had planned on stopping in sickbay to visit him. First however there was something she needed.

When she entered the mess hall she didn't stop at the replicator, but headed for Chef's domain. Chef smiled when he saw her enter the kitchen.

"Sub-Commander, I have what you asked for right here!" He opened the fridge door and took out a wrapped item handing it to her.

T'Pol was pleased. When she had called Chef earlier, he promised that it would be ready when she arrived.

Taking the item he had given her she headed for sickbay quickening her steps in anticipation of seeing the commander healthy once more. Her leg still had a cast but she had managed to develop a gait that compensated for it.

When she arrived . Commander Tucker looked very pale and was lying there seemingly exhausted.

When Trip saw her however, he smiled.

"T'Pol!, you're the only one who hasn't been in to see me. I was beginning to think you didn't want to." He said it, but his eyes twinkled and she knew he was joking.

She let it pass however, "I've brought you something to cheer you up."

His face took on a surprised look as she handed him the small container. When his eyebrows drew together in a quizzical expression she thought how much he resembled a little kid. She realized then how much she would have missed that look had he not survived.

His face lit up when he saw what was inside the package, "Ah T'Pol!, This is great! Thank You!"

He held up a double popsicle, cherry flavored on sticks. Smiling he carefully split the two pieces and handed her one of the halves on it's own stick. She gingerly accepted it and taking his cue started to suck on it surprised by how cold and refreshing it tasted.

"Did I ever tell you about how hot it gets in Florida...?" His voice drawled on and she sat down on the side of the bed and listened as he rambled on inbetween slurps on his popsicle.

While she listened she continued to slowly slurp her popsicle , once more amazed by humans and how they could be so easily pleased by the simplest things...

End :)


End file.
